Genesee Township woman pleads guilty in embezzlement case

FLINT, MI -- A Genesee Township woman has pleaded guilty after
authorities claim she stole more than $4,000 from her elderly mother.

Haroletta M. Lilly pleaded guilty Tuesday, Aug. 27, to
one count of attempted embezzlement. The agreement includes a promise to amend the charge to disorderly person if Lilly repays the money,
according to her attorney Frank J. Manley.

Lilly, 60, was
charged in June on one count of embezzlement after Adult Protective
Services tipped off the Genesee County Sheriff's Elder Abuse task force to
possible criminal activity.

Genesee County Sheriff Robert Pickell said that Lilly was
the court-appointed guardian for her 85-year-old mother when she allegedly
stole more than $4,000 from her, from Nov. 2012 to April 2013.

Manley said the incident was nothing more than a family
misunderstanding and that the resolution in the case was fair.

Pickell said that Lilly's mother was living in a Flint
nursing home and that Lilly was responsible for paying her mother's bill.

However, Pickell said that Lilly had stopped paying the
bills, even though her mother was receiving more than $700 monthly in
Social Security payments.

Investigators uncovered that Lilly was allegedly using
the money to pay her own personal bills as well as funding lavish vacations,
including cruises.

Manley said that Lilly is employed and would be
able to pay back the restitution.